Windshield wiper blade and arm assembly



E. c. HORTON 224G369 WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE AND ARM ASSEMBLY Filed Sept.29, 1936 INVENTOR EWg/ m fimam 13115 1 WOW z M ATTORNEYS v Patented Apr.29, 1941 WINDSHIELD WIPEB BLADE AND l ASSEMBLY Erwin C. Horton, Hamburg,N. Y., assignor to Trico Products Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application September 29, 1936, Serial No. 103,140

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a window wiper blade and arm construction withreference to the means for attaching the blade to the oscillating wiperarm.

It is an object of this construction to provide quick and easy means forattaching the arm and blade, while at the same time providing a firm andsecure attachment.

A further object is to so construct the attaching parts that they willserve to allow a limited rocking action of the blade relative to thearm, such rocking action to be resiliently resisted by portions of theattaching parts.

A further object is to so form the attaching parts that their resiliencywill tend to force the blade to a substantially vertical position on thewindow surface.

The limited lateral rocking motion allows the blade to contact th windowsurface at the correct wiping angle at all times, and the tendency ofthe attaching parts to force the blade to a normally upright position onthe window surface obviates the possibility of the wiping element of theblade becoming set or hardened in a cramped position, and therebybecoming permanently deformed and the eiiiciency as a wiping meansimpaired.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown one embodiment of thisinvention. It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewithshown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same,and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of partsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention orthe scope of the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the blade and arm in attached relationship.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the clip and the attachingportion of the armdisengaged.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the clip with arm attachedin normal position, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3, but showing the clip with arm attached atthe limit of lateral rocking movement.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified form of theclip and without the attached arm.'

Referring more particularly to the drawing: The oscillated shaft l of aconventional wiper motor (not shown) is detachably connected to arm 2 atThe arm 2 has a fixed portion 2' and a part 4 connected thereto by pivot5. Its free end is resiliently pulled toward the glass to be wiped bytension spring 6 extending between hooklike extension 8 of portion 4 andone end of member 1 which is pivoted in arm portion 2'. Thisconstruction which insures adequate wiping pressur of the blade on thewindow glass,. is shown more fully in Patent No. 1,952,866, issued toHueber, March 27, 1934.

Arm 2 is provided at its lower end with an end portion 9 which isrelatively flat, and with extending portions Ill and H defining slot l2.Extending portions l0 and II are bent slightly upwards at their freeends. Lying directly back of slot l2, and separated therefrom by aninterlocking key part I3, is an oblong aperture I 4 cut with itslongitudinal axis extending lengthwise of the arm portion 4.

Wiper blade I! comprises a channelled holder" IB grasping a wipingelement l1 firmly within its channel. An attaching clip I8 is fixed tothe channelled holder and comprises paired sides l9 and 20 with upwardlyprojecting fln-like members 24, which are resilient in character and areformed with a key-slot 26 having entranceways 25. Members 24 extendingupward from parts 19 and 20 of the-clip I 8, are homologous and arespaced slightly from each other.

In practice it is necessaryto provide a-secure and easy attachment ofclip and arm. This is accomplished in the present invention by slippingthe key l3 of the arm into the constricted entranceways 25 of thekey-slot 26 in the fin-like members 24 of the clip l8. The thickness ofthe metal forming the arm 9 is substantially less than the distanceacross th key l3 from the slot H to the notch I 2 and the key I3 isslipped through the entranceways by having the arm in a substantiallyvertical position relative to the blade, as shown in Fig. 2, followingwhich the arm is brought down to rest in a substantially parallelposition relative to the blade, as shown in Fig. 1. This disposes thekey within the key slot 26 transversely of the entran-ceways tointerlock the clip and blade to the arm. From the above it will be seenthat the key 13 has a rectangular cross section and that its minor axis,the thickness of the metal, is less than the width of the entranceways25, while its major axis, the distance from the slot M to the notch I2,is greater than the width of the entranceways 25. The bifurcated membersl0 and II he along the outer edges of front fin-like members 54 to guideand steady the blade in its operation. With the clip thus engaged withthe end of the arm, there is a secure attachment between arm and blade.A cross section or the arm and blade in this normal parallel engagedrelationship is shown in Fig. 3.

One of the objects of the present invention as stated is to "allow the,blade a limited lateral rock-v ing action relative to the arm. Duringoperation the frictionof the blade on the window glass normal spacedrelationship, tends to oppose the action of forcing them together andtends toreturn the blade to it's normal position relative to the arm,shown in Fig. 3. In this manner, the rocking motion of the blade andclip is yieldably 'resisted and the engaging members of the clip and armcoacting as specified tend to blade to an upright position.

Fig. 5 discloses a modified structure of the clip la in which theextended fin-like members 21 have an outward bow instead of beingstraight as are tin-like members 24. This outward bow serves to morefirmly secure the arm to the clip and to somewhat limit the extent ofthe rocking action.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a window wiper blade, a wiping element, a channelled holderengaging aid wiping element, andan attaching clip rigidly mounted onsaid holder and having a medially slotted pair of spaced upwardlyextending and laterally resilient members adapted to be forced towardseach other, said forcing action being resisted by the resiliency of themembers and limited by the space between them. i

2. A window wiping blade comprising a channeled holder engaging a wipingbody within its channel, an attaching clip rigidly mounted on saidholder, said clip having a pair of resilient,

return the .u'pwardly extending, spaced andnormally substantiallyparallel, unconnected fin-like members, said members being adapted to beforced towards one another, said forcing action being resisted by ientmembers, a wiper arm having an end slot and an aperture directly inwardfrom said slot to define a key part, said paired members having keyslots to receive said part with the slot de- .wiper having a wipingmember with a wiping edge fining and aperture defining portions of saidwiper arm embracing the paired members, said paired members divergingoutwardly from said wiper blade and terminating in converging portions4. A window wiper arm for use with a window and members projecting awayfrom the edge opposite the wiping edge, said arm having a bifurcatedflattened end portion, the bifurcated memberof said end portion defininga slot, said arm having also an adjacent aperture of substantially thesame lateral dimensions as the slot, formed in the flattened portion ofthe arm inwardly of the slot, and defining therewith a transverse keyfor interlocking with the projecting members of said wiper.

5. A window wiper arm having a notched terminal portion, an aperture insaid portion adjacent said notched terminal portion and spaced therefromin a direction opposite to said terminal portion, said notched portionand said aperture being so positioned relatively to each other as toform a transverse key portion for interlocking with portions of anattaching clip mounted on a blade.

6. An attachment between a window ,wiper blade and a wiper arm,comprising a wiping blade with attaching clip, said clip having pairedresilient members, a wiper arm having an end slot and an aperturedirectly inward from said slot to define a key part, said paired'membersof the clip having key-slots to receive said part with the slot definingandaperture defining portions of said wiper arm embracing the pairedmembers.

7. An attachment between a blade means and arm means comprising a clipon one of said means other.

with a pair of spaced outwardly extending members, a bifurcated memberon the other of said means having an aperture adjacent the bifurcation,the bifurcation and the portions of the other of said means definingsaid aperture coacting with and engaging the pair of clip members of theone of said means.

8. A window cleaner having a wiper member and an arm member foractuating same, one of said members having a clip part formed with a keyslot in which there is a narrowed entranceway, the companion memberhaving a key portion with a minor axis of less width than theentranceway and a major axis of greater width than said entrancewaywhereby said key may be inserted in said slot by movement in thedirection of its major axis, said clip part having spaced resilient finsand said companion member having portions confining said fins andflexing them toward, each ERWIN c. HORTON.

